As my narrative brainstorm began to broaden I wondered if my ideas would have a profound effect on the player, even after they have reached the end. It was at an animal vigil that I stumbled upon my game concept.

Vigils are a form of peaceful outreach in which people like myself will gather outside of animal slaughter houses to witness animals as individuals for but a few moments, before they are led to their death . The SAVE Movement, which organises vigils allowing individuals to bear witness to the last moments of an animal’s life, has a Memorandum of Understanding based on the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, fostering a love-based approach to animal compassion. Most of the participants will film and photograph the animals to spread awareness of their suffering, usually on social media platforms – These tactics are often perceived as shocking as we witness the tears in cows eyes and see the chickens who have plucked themselves raw with anxiety, however are simply presenting the sad reality of the animal agriculture industry. We have reached a point where animals are not seen as living beings, but as stock or a commodity and people do not like to think otherwise.

I often leave these events with a heavy heart, feeling hopeless as I realise the animals photographed and made eye contact with that morning would now have been slaughtered. I felt enraged that these animals had no choice whilst humans do, many choosing ignorance over reality, completely unaware of the process of their food – To a degree I wish I had the ability to do just that.
But what if you were to put yourself in their place? To make these decisions that feel so huge to you as an individual, only to be meaningless as you are crushed into the back of a slaughterhouse truck?

I felt this could be expressed through the form of a “choose your adventure” in which your choice as the animal doesn’t matter, but your choices as a player, after you stop playing.